


The Secret Of Vale

by Sammykh



Category: The Secret of Kells, Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Basically a Secret Of Kells WTNV au, Carlos is a Dork, Carlos is an orphan, Carlos is around 17-20 years old., Cecil is magic, M/M, Strexcorp, Strexcorp is Evil, Strict Mother Pamela, more tags to be added later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-13 23:28:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4541523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sammykh/pseuds/Sammykh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You don't have to know Secret Of Kells to read this fic. You can read this with no knowledge of Kells.</p><p>Strexcorp has been destroying towns left and right, the captured are never the same and the survivors seek refuge. Carlos, an orphaned refugee adopted by the Mayor and the town, uses his love for science to make building a defense easier. But, when a legendary refugee reveals knowledge of an unfinished book containing the power to stop Strex, Carlos makes it his mission to finish the book, with the help of a few mysterious allies, including the guardian of the Oasis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Wild Goose Chase

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I'm taking the formula from the movie, changing it up a little, and inserting different characters. The Secret Of Kells is a beautiful movie, and its very underrated. This story remains parallel to it, but not exactly the same.

_"I have lived through many ages._

_Through the eyes of hawk_

_deer,_

_and wolf._

_I have seen smiling beings invading many towns,_

_destroying all in search of gold._

_I have seen suffering in the light of a Smiling God._

_Yet, I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places._

_I have seen the book._

_The book that turned blinding light, into quiet night."_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The town of Vale was bustling, hard at work. John Peters, y'know, the farmer, was tending to his crop of invisible corn, humming to himself. He looked up to watch the majority of the citizens digging on the west side of town. The underground city was going wonderfully. They had started the project 5 years ago, when they heard Nulogorsk had been attacked and ravaged. People who were captured by the Strexmen, were never the same again. They had gotten the news from a few refugees who had escaped just in time. Vale took pity and allowed them in, and after a few town meetings, decided to, for best defense, disappear. That has taken a lot of work, but now, they were almost finished. They had at most 5 more months of work left until they could all move in. John had even begun planting in their underground farm area, specially designed for irrigation and photosynthesis, by a young, orphaned refugee, who had the wonderful gift of mind. The child's natural curiosity and problem solving skills had helped the town immensely. And while a young woman by the name of Pamela gave him a room and a bed, the entire town had accepted him as he were their own.

 

The peace was broken by a loud honking noise, followed by a goose running, honking past, and that very child, now grown into a young man, chased directly after, panting heavily. The boy stopped, almost running into John, and began looking around.

 

“Sorry Mr. Peters! Do you know where she went?”

 

“You best be stayin outta trouble Carlos.” John said with a smile, pointing in the direction of the goose's path.

 

“I am... ish.” Carlos said with a shrug and a smile, returning to the chase, lab coat flapping behind him. Before he got too far away, he called out a “Thanks Mr. Peters!” with a wave, and began ducking and weaving through the farm area, before spotting the goose again.

 

“Here goosy goosy goosy” Carlos called. The goose took that as a cue to run again, as Carlos attempted a dive. The goose jumped out of the way, and Carlos ate sand.

“Ug”

 

“Carlos! Don't let her get away!” Carlos looked behind him with a smile, regarding his friends, Dave and Rochelle, who were fast approaching. Dave was fist to reach him and helped him up.  
“Here, let me try.” Carlos could only watch in amusement as Dave leapt towards the goose, only to land in the pigs pen. Carlos chuckled as the goose jumped Dave's head and resumed running away.

 

“I think I got this” Carlos said, returning once again to the chase. Then, the goose ran over the construction site, and Carlos hesitated, looking at all the work the town has done. He then tentatively began walking, still following the goose.

 

“Carlos! Be careful, the ground is still unstable!” Rochelle called out, she and Dave staying behind.

 

“Don't worry Rosh, I'll be careful!” Carlos said, stepping on beams and over laid out pillars. The goose flew up to the face of one of the working townspeople, causing them to drop some supplies. Carlos, still close behind, uttered an apology as he passed. It was then he stepped on a weak area and his ankle rolled, causing him to lose his balance and tumble down a small flight of still-being-dug-stairs. He groaned as he got up, testing his ankle to make sure the pain was temporary, when green caught his eye.

He readjusted his glasses and stepped out of the hole he had fallen in, still looking in the direction of the green.

 

“Carlos? Are you ok?” Came a shout.

 

“Yeah I'm fine!” He called back, not looking away. Has that oasis always been there? He considered for a moment longer, before returning to his friends.

 

“Carlos, are you hurt?” Rochelle asked.

 

“I-” Carlos' reassurances were cut off by a honk, and Carlos spotted the goose running back towards the town, and resumed the chase once again,the two others following behind. Finally, Carlos managed to corner the goose, and catch it.

“Sorry, I know you don't want this, but I promise I will be quick.” Carlos then carefully and quickly plucked five feathers from the bird.  
“There, that wasn't so hard was it?” Carlos cooed, petting the goose.“You are a very lucky bird! Your feathers will become tools necessary to scientific discoveries!”

 

“Mainly cause Mayor Winchell has lost her marbles and outlawed pens and pencils.” Dave quipped.

 

“Shush, don't let her hear” Carlos shushed with a laugh. He the yelped in pain as the goose bit his nose and ran off, causing the three humans to laugh. Because of their laughter, they didn't hear the figure walking up behind them.

 

“Ahem” The three teens jumped, and turned to recognize Pamela Winchell, who was giving them a stern look.

 

“I-I can explain.” Carlos stuttered, fidgeting with the feathers in his hands.

 

“We needed writing utensils that weren't illegal” Rochelle explained.

 

“We tried to catch the goose, but she runs very fast and I fell in the mud.” Dave finished.

 

“Carlos, where are those plans I asked for?” Pamela said, disregarding the other two. Carlos looked up.

 

“The plans? Oh, I left them in the lab.”

 

“Bring them to City Hall.”

 

“Yes Mother.”

 

“Tomorrow you will go back to work on the Underground City, all of you. Understand?”

 

“Yes Ma'am” Dave and Rochelle agreed simultaneously, along with a “Yes Mother” from Carlos who began fidgeting once again.

 

“And Dave, clean yourself up, I'm sure your mother wants you presentable in public.” Pamela said, before turning and walking back to City Hall.

 


	2. The Book Of Night

“Dig here dig there, dig all day!” Dave mocked after Pamela was out of earshot.  
“All she cares about is the stupid underground city and nothing else.”  
  
“Come on now-” Carlos started

 

“Why do you defend her so?” Rochelle interrupted.

  
“I bet she never even kisses you goodnight.”  Dave added. Carlos laughed.

 

“I'm too old for that. Besides, if she didn't have a heart, she wouldn't have given me a home. She just wants to protect her town.” Carlos began walking towards his lab, gesturing for the others to follow.  
“When the Strexmen come to Vale, they'll make no distinction between young and old. So-”

 

“Prepare or meet your doom!” Dave shouted mockingly, as they entered the lab. Dave and Rochelle laughed as Carlos rolled his eyes, and shook his head. They just don't understand. Carlos gave a greeting to some of the elders working in the lab, who murmured greetings back before getting back to their experiments.  
“Seriously Carlos, you haven't been off Vale borders since you showed up 5 years ago.”

 

“You don't know how awful it was. I watched my home fall to the Strexman, ran to Nulogorsk, only to watch them fall as well. I don't want to see that for Vale.” Carlos confided.  
“Hey Tamika, Jake, look what I managed to get!” He shouted, changing the subject, and walking to the other side of the lab, holding out the feathers.  
“To replace the ones you broke”

Tamika Flynn, 14 and wise beyond her years, smirked as she looked over her beat up old quill,and took a new one from Carlos' outstretched hand. Carlos put the rest in a quill holder on the lab table next to them.

 

“So that's where you've been” Jake observed.

 

“What happened to Dave? “ Tamika asked, amused.

 

”You should've seen him Tamika, he took a flying dive like a beautiful Angel” Carlos teased, holding his arms out and flapping. Laughter rang throughout the lab.

 

“Not funny” Dave sulked. “Mayor Winchell caught us, and chewed us out for screwing around instead of working on the Underground.”  
“besides, Angels don't exist”He added with a mumble.

  
“What about the books? Has she not gone out yet to look for them?” Jake asked.

 

“Without the books, knowledge would be lost for eternity.” Tamika huffed. “We cannot only have the Underground City, books give hope to the people. Stories bring life to their eyes. We need someone to be willing to bring us these stories.”

 

“Tamika, what about you? You are the best storyteller around.” Carlos said matter-of-factually.

 

“I'm a mere scribbler compared to true authors, such as Harper Lee, or Miss Josefina.” Tamika explained. Jake nodded.  
  
“Josefina and the Erikas, I love their work!” Rochelle exclaimed.

 

“Who is Josefina?” Carlos asked.  
“I don't read much” he added when he received disbelieving looks from the others.

 

“A sage!” Rochelle said, awe-fully.

 

“It is said she does the work of Angels” Tamika added. “Shining light on the illiterate. The best author of them all. Definitely my personal favorite.”

 

“Where is she then?”

 

“A small town not unlike ours: Desert Bluffs. She has traveled to so many places, and Desert Bluffs is where she began her latest project. She has said its going to be the book of legends!” Tamika explained.

 

“She called it the Book Of Night” Rochelle added. “The book was said to have been begun by Angels, over many centuries. Personally, I just think she is modest. Angels aren't real...”

 

“Its because of the Angels the book will be greater than all others.” Tamika argued, crossing her arms. “To gaze upon the book, is to gaze upon Heaven itself.”

 

“The Book Of Night.” Carlos echoed, thoughtfully. “ Why call it that?”

 

“As night brings relief in the desert, this book shall bring release to the world.” Tamika recited.

 

“Yeah, its apparently a prophecy.” Rochelle explained.

 

_Blinding light._

_Unnatural smiles grinning ear to ear._

“ _Worship our Smiling God!”_

_Poison._

_Screaming._

_Fleeing._

 

Carlos gasped, holding onto a table as he found he was gripping for dear life onto the lab table on front of him.

 

“Hey Carlos, you still with us?” Dave asked worriedly.

 

“Yeah” Carlos choked out. “I guess I'd better bring Pamela those plans she wanted.” He added quickly, as his friends look on with worried expressions. “I don't want to get in more trouble with her.”  
  
Carlos grabbed the plans from off the desk, and left towards City Hall.

 ----------

Carlos ran quickly, mentally prepping himself for the lecture that was sure to come.

“Here they are mother” He announced as he entered Pamela's office. She looked up from her paperwork with a stern look.

 

“Carlos, how am I supposed to trust you with responsibility, when it takes you hours to fufil a simple task?”

 

“Sorry, I got distracted. We talked about books, and Tamika gets really passionate about the subject and we began talking of Desert Bluffs. I think I had a vision? Im not sure. It felt so real though. Desert Bluffs was destroyed!” Pamela stood up from her desk as Carlos talked, eyes softening.

 

“Reality can be harsh. Especially when the threat continues to be real. Your insight has helped tremendously. But its why we must stay vigilant, so that your recounts don't become reality all over again.”

 

_Fleeing_

_Fear_

_Looming bright figures holding suns_

_Drawing nearer and nearer_

_A man, strapped to a table_

_Screaming_

_Injections_

_Smiling_

 

Carlos found himself  seated in the chair across the desk from his mother as he came back to himself. She had taken the plans he held previously and was currently going over them, mumbling to herself, and editing.

 

“Drink some water.” She said with a side glance. Carlos nodded, and walked to the water cooler by the window, taking a paper cup and filling it. Movement outside the window caught Carlos' attention.

 

“Mother, something is happening outside. It looks like a woman has arrived. What a strange cat.”

 

“No doubt more refugees” Pamela muttered. “Carlos, now that you are-” She cut off when she heard her door open, and noticed Carlos was no longer in the room. She sighed into her hands. Her question would have to wait until later. She got up from her desk and looked out the window to see what had spiked the curiosity of Carlos, and her eyes widened.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to add comments and constructive criticism. I don't bite... much.


	3. A New Visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! It's finally here! If you haven't reread chapter two since August, I suggest you do so else you get lost. I will have no set time of which I will update, but I will be trying to get it out faster. Hope you enjoy Chapter 3 :D

Several townspeople had gathered around the newcomer, almost making it impossible for Carlos to push through. He made it through with a few apologies, and saw the woman he saw from the window. The cat she was holding eyed him curiously.

 

“Oh nono not that far” came the woman's chuckling voice. “These old legs can still walk.”  
  
“But please from where?” came a question from Leann Hart, who was interviewing the woman. “Is it very far away?”

 

“Not too far, but it sure seemed that way. But with Angels to watch you and a little one-” She added, regarding the cat. “-to take care of, it makes the journey worth it. Isn't that right Khoshekh?” The woman cooed, petting the purring black cat nestled in her arms. The crowd, along with Carlos, chuckled lightly as more questions began pouring in. The questions ceased and the crowd parted as Pamela walked up, a smile on her face.

 

“Welcome to Vale!” She shook hands with the woman and introduced herself. “I am Mayor Pamela Winchell. Its so wonderful to meet you!”

 

“Who are you?”Carlos asked the woman.

 

“My name is Josefina, but you can call me Old Woman Josie” the woman said with a smile. A loud squeal came from somewhere else in the crowd, and Tamika pushed her way through, with Rochelle in tow. Both of the girls began hurtling questions at the old woman. Josie chuckled.

“Now now, one question at a time! Questions do not burn your tongue if you wait to ask them.” She added, and a light chuckle spread through the crowd.

 

“Welcome to Vale Miss Josefina!” Carlos greeted excitedly.

 

“Our lab has spaces for you to write” Carlos heard Rochelle saying as the crowd dispersed and left Tamika, Rochelle and a couple others curious about the newcomer, to begin to give a tour.

 

“It also has a small library that I have been putting together.”Tamika added before they got out of earshot. Carlos heard a small mew and turned to see Josie's cat rubbing against his leg.

 

“Hello, welcome to Vale little guy” Carlos cooed, fixing to pick up the cat. But before he could, the cat sauntered off in Josie's direction.

“Hey, wait up” Carlos called, running after. Josie, Pamela, Rochelle and Tamika had all gathered in the lab, talking amongst themselves as Carlos entered with the cat.

 

“We were talking about your work just hours ago” Rochelle mused excitedly.

 

“Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear” Tamika added, chuckles filling the room.

 

“Wow, what a fine building. Its so grand!” Josie marveled as she looked around awe-fully.  
“Mmm, good clean air, lots of natural light from those windows!” She idly set her bag on one of the tables, still interested in the structure of the lab.

 

“Is that where you keep the book?” Carlos asked, regarding the bag.

 

“Hmm?” Breaking out of her trance, Josie looked back at Carlos in confusion.

 

“Uh, is that where-”

 

“Forgive me, but I don't think we have been introduced, who might you be?” Josie said, a warm smile donning her face.

 

“Oh, My name is Carlos. Pleasure!” Carlos said, shaking hands with Josie.

“Likewise! I take it you are one of the scientists here? A young scientist is never short of questions. Of what interest is the book to you?”

 

“Well, my friends were talking, and they said that Angels began to write it. I was w-”  
  
“Everyone, now that you have greeted Miss Josie, I'm sure she must be tired from her journey here. I'm sure the lot of you have work that needs to be done. Come Miss Josie, I will show you where you will be staying until we can make a house for you.” Pamela ordered, before leading Josie outside.

 

“Say, whats all this construction for?” Josie asked, curious.

 

“We are fortifying Vale. Carlos came up with the idea to build underground, as if Vale never existed. I have the plans in my office if you are interested.”

 

“The boy is a bright one I see. That lab is a beauty, same with the library you've got coming on.” Josie praised, before turning back slightly to see Carlos looking on.   
“Carlos, would you be a dear and find food for Khoshekh?” She asked, gesturing towards the cat, before facing Pamela and continuing their conversation. After nodding, Carlos knelt down to the cat.

 

“So, you're Khoshekh? I'm Carlos, w- hey wait where are you going? I need to feed you!” Carlos called as the cat began to walk off towards City Hall.

“Khoshekh!” Carlos called again, albeit more hushed this time, as he didn't want to startle those still working. As he followed the cat through the hallway, he came upon the guest quarters and heard Pamela and Josie talking.

 

“What if you were tracked here, we don't need them arriving before we are done with the underground city. Perhaps it was best you didn't come?”  
  
“Was I to stay and be killed or worse? I escaped the Strexmen, and left them far behind. The book is saved, and I mean to complete it Pamela.”  
  
“Yes, well we have more pressing things to complete here. The Underground City for example. We may be vast one day. Those without a home will find safety in the town that is no longer in sight.”  
  
“You have always been good at keeping people together” Josie said wistfully. Carlos heard Pamela's footsteps near the door, and he drew back, sheepish for eavesdropping.

 

“If you will excuse me, I have a lot to attend to” Pamela said as she opened the door, and walked back into the direction of her office, not noticing Carlos behind her. Khoshekh, noticing the opening, bounded into the room, which Josie quickly came out of.  
  
“Nothing can stop them. All you can do is run, and hope that we are fast enough.” Josie said gravely. Pamela paused her step for a moment, but said nothing as she continued to walk away.

“Come on Khoshekh, it's time we got some rest.”

 


	4. News/

9/26/15 Chapter 3 is up, but AO3 for some reason didn't post it on the main page, so this is a place holder and will be deleted when I complete the story. Also I  will be putting any news about this story here. For example, I'm off Hiatus!! :D read Chapter 3.

 

10/1/2015 Im taking a two month Hiatus. I will write chapter four off and on, but with WTNV fictober this October, and NANO (Which im doing for the first time) I wont be focused on this. I  will work on this if I have extra time this October, but I also  have school to deal with. I promise I will work on this 100% in December.

**Author's Note:**

> Any errors? please feel free to correct me! I don't bite... much


End file.
